Pre-orders will follow by the end of the launch week, and thanks to some investigative work from Macerkopf, we can see that the preorder date ties in with the believed launch date. Mike Wuerthele reports:

Enthusiast site Macerkopf is citing a pair of unnamed German carriers for the order date. AppleInsider is expecting the event to take place on September 12, given historical precedent, so the date makes sense from that perspective.

As always, orders will likely start at midnight U.S. Pacific time, with carrier orders starting at approximately the same time. If there is a specific model desired, ordering early is prudent.

In terms of the competition, this gives Samsung the expected retail window of the Galaxy Note 9 of around three weeks before Tim Cook takes to the stage. That does give the South Korean company a window of opportunity (and pre-orders of that phablet have proved promising for 2018), but the initial enthusiasm for the Note 9 will have likely burned out - unless there is a sudden revelation in the reviews that makes an ‘iPhone killer.

What the date will do is reduce the impact of any successful launches from Berlin’s IFA tech event. Running from August 31 to September 5, a number of manufacturers are expected to launch their flagship handsets for the last quarter of the year. Anyone hoping to get any traction online is going to have to fight through the final leaks and rumors ahead of the iPhone launch, the launch itself, then the frenzied 'out of stock’ reports during the first day of preorders.

I am known for my strong views on mobile technology, online media, and the effect this has have on the public conscious and existing businesses.I've been following this space for over ten years, working with a number of publishers, publications and media companies, some f...